The Farmer in the Dell, Production and Marketing

Here's a video of EB singing "The Farmer in the Dell" to B-Boy. I think it's adorable, but be forewarned: EB has a very strong set of lungs. She very possibly damaged B-Boy's hearing, but as you'll see in the video, he was totally into her serenade, pumping his legs and arms as if he's her number one fan. If you can bare a couple of minutes of her shrill singing, click on play. But don't say I didn't warn you....

By the way, I never quite understood what "The Farmer in the Dell" was all about, so I looked it up on Wikipedia, the most totally trust-worthy source on all of the Inter-Webs. If you're not familiar with the song, the lyrics go something like this: The farmer takes a wife, then the wife takes a child, so on and so forth, until you get to the last line--"the cheese stands alone." Evidently it originated in Germany and there are several interpretations of the song's meaning. The following is by far my favorite:

The farmer in the dell nursery rhyme refers to age old production. a farmer (historically) needed children to help with help hence he took a wife. The wife took a child in order to fulfill her duties as a mother the child took, or needed, a nurse during birth and early life. The nurse took a cow in order to help sustain the child quite possibly to supplement the wife's (mother) breastfeeding. The dog is needed to help manage the cattle (think a working border collie here). The dog (a stretch on this one) needs the cat for entertainment purposes. The cat obviously needs the rat as sustenance as does the rat need the cheese (the rat takes the cheese).

In the end the cheese stands alone. The nursery rhyme is a relationship to production and economy. The cheese represents the theoretical beginning of the production line.

Interesting, no? But I think EB took the production interpretation to a whole new level. If you were able to have make it through her entire performance, you'll notice that EB added a few twists of her own: The cheese takes the baby, then the baby takes the milk, then the milk takes the cookie, and finally, the cookie stands alone.

So, if the cheese represents the theoretical beginning of the production line, the baby signifies that the larger the population, the more necessary it became to automate and increase production. The baby needs the milk for obvious reasons, but in the end, milk needs the cookie. This signifies the fact that production is further accelerated by the advent of marketing. As us marketers are all-too aware, marketing creates a need that no one knows existed--remember the ads for Oreo, the "Milk's Favorite Cookie"?

In EB's version, The production line begins, making it possible to feed more and more people with less effort. Marketing takes it further, creating the need for more production. Brilliant, actually.